Will Amazon undercut British grocers with its new Pantry service?

Tuesday 17 November 2015 - Talya Misiri

In a bid to rival supermarkets in the run up to the festive period, Amazon has launched Amazon Pantry, a UK delivery service supplying household goods and groceries for its Prime customers.

The new service will be exclusive to Amazon Prime customers who will have access to more than 4,000 branded food and drink, pet and baby and health and beauty products. Brands include Heinz, Pantene and Nescafé to name a few.

Its new venture is the latest attempt to move firmly into the convenience household delivery market. The ecommerce giant has included its Dash Button, a small electronic device which allows customers to automatically re-order supplies of a specific product for next day delivery.

Goods will be packaged in boxes priced at £2.99 next day delivery for the first 20kg order and 99p from then on. Pre-packed boxes for specific occasions such as for a child birth, party or weekend away are also available to purchase.

Though the Pantry service will not offer fresh fruit and vegetables, Amazon’s low prices will likely pose a direct threat to the Big Four supermarkets.

New customers can now acquire the Prime membership for £59 a year and will be able to gain earlier access to Black Friday Amazon deals. According to Experian-IMRG, the online giant is expected to surpass £1bn for the first time in comparison to sales of 5.5m items last year.

Discount grocer Aldi has recently launched its own online platform following its record sales of £6.39bn, which highlighted its commitment to low prices.